A couple of days ago a news report from NASA came out about one of their rover’s six wheels breaking. This news was buried in under the headline “Mars Rovers Get New Manager During Challenging Period” which quickly turns from the optimism of the new project manager into doom and gloom.
One of Spirit’s six wheels has stopped working. Dragging that wheel, the solar-powered rover must reach a slope where it can catch enough sunshine to continue operating during the Martian winter. The period of minimum sunshine is more than 100 days away, but Spirit gets only enough power for about one hour per day of driving on flat ground. And the supply is dropping fast.
Good to see everything is dandy on Mars =\